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Wire Harness Time! I laid all the wiring out for the Panel Van last night so I could get a handle on what was there, what I still need, what needs to change and what needs to stay the same. The wiring harness for this truck is a mashup of several harnesses that I put together to create one that does everything I need it to do (I think). The main engine harness (along with the ABS module, gas pedal, TIPM, ECU, TCU & Instrument Cluster) is from a single donor '06 Charger R/T (5.7L engine). The main interior harness & the dash wiring harness & steering wheel are from a donor '06 Charger SXT (3.5L engine). The door wiring harnesses and window mechanisms for the front doors are from an '07 300 (2.7L engine). I spent some tedious time re-pinning several broken or mangled or missing connectors (most on the engine harness) and finally believe I have a good place to start laying everything out. The main harness that goes through the interior of the truck will need to be re-worked to re-locate one of the back (side) door connectors to the right panel van door on the rear of the vehicle. The Trunk mechanism wiring will be removed. The rear window motor wiring will be re-routed to control the exhaust dumps (one on each side of the vehicle). And, of course, the interior lighting wiring will have to be created and wired into the harness as well. The front wiring harness will need to be modified to handle the HID's I am using in the panel van. In addition, I will need to add and re-locate connectors for the turn signals on all four corners and the brake lights. I'll also need to decide whether I'm going to put in a hight-mount (third) brake light. Whew... Lots of stuff here!

Why did I jump to wiring??? Glad you asked! My effort is actually moving toward finishing up the firewall. But in order to do that, I need to figure out where a 3.5" hole and a 2" hole need to be drilled through the firewall for the wiring. If I drill these things in the right places that the stock engine harness does not need to be cut apart and lengthened, then someone else, later on, can more easily remove this little 5.7L Hemi and upgrade it to a 6.1 or even a Hellcat without having to chop up their harness. At least, that's the idea. I'm learning to try and think a few steps ahead. ...it's Not Easy for my feeble mind!

All that said, I rambled on for even longer on an update video I made last night. It'll be uploaded to YouTube in a few hours (I hope). As soon as it's uploaded, it should be available at: Panel Van Update 11082018 - YouTube

I only had time to look and evaluate the setup last night. But it all needs evaluating. I came up with questions/observations that I need to answer now, though.

Will I be able to use the fuel rail from the Charger intake on the RAM intake - Or are the fuel connections the same so that I can use a RAM fuel rail? They look quite a bit alike, but the car fuel rail rail connector has to be longer because it has to go over taller runners. If the extra line will tuck nicely under the throttle body on the RAM intake, then I'm golden.

Charger Fuel Rail - Mopar P/N: 4591853AG

RAM Fuel Rail - Mopar P/N: 53032712AE

Looking at the truck intake vs. the car intake, I realized that the EGR goes to an entirely different location. So, it appears I have a couple different options...

Option1: Continue using the EGR by purchasing the correct EGR tube for a truck.
or
Option 2: Delete the EGR. (Actually, this is a third reason to delete the EGR. First reason was the fact that my full length headers will need to be modified to supply the EGR with exhaust to work. Second reason is the idea that there is a "tick" that appears when you use a cold air intake and retain the EGR. It has been stated and verified by others that the tick disappears when you delete the EGR)

Pretty sure I'm going to remove the EGR. But this is another addition to the list of things I need to "adjust" in the ECU.

Another observation is that I don't seem to have a connector to attach to the green connector on the ECU. Hmm... Am I missing something or is there really nothing that plugs into the Green position?

Will I need to buy a new Alternator, A/C Compressor and Power Steering Pump by going to the truck timing cover and water pump?

REMY 12667 - Charger 160Amp Alternator

REMY 12563 - RAM 160Amp Alternator - Probably end up going with the RAM Alternator since it will bolt directly to the truck setup. Shouldn't be any different internally. Hoping not, anyway.

Denso 471-0810 - Charger A/C Compressor

Denso 471-0398 - RAM A/C Compressor - Probably end up going with the RAM Compressor since it will bolt directly to the truck setup. But I really hate to see what it will mean for my A/C lines. Maybe everything will work great. ...but maybe not. Time will tell.

A1 Cardone 215445 - Charger Power Steering Pump. I want to use the Charger Power Steering pump because it's meant to go hand in hand with the Charger rack and pinion. Also, because it's got a nifty remote reservoir that will work well with my engine bay.

Would that 6.1 fuel rail fit the truck intake? Help me out for a second... I see the design difference between a 6.1 fuel rail and a 5.7 fuel rail. Does the 6.1 flow more fuel? Or does it provide more consistency for fuel delivery? What's the advantage?

Would that 6.1 fuel rail fit the truck intake? Help me out for a second... I see the design difference between a 6.1 fuel rail and a 5.7 fuel rail. Does the 6.1 flow more fuel? Or does it provide more consistency for fuel delivery? What's the advantage?

Honestly im not sure. I would assume it should fit but cant verify that. I just figured i would offer it.

I think I may have found an instrument cluster that will allow enough space for proper HVAC venting. This one comes from a 2006/2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 4.7L V8 (Mopar P/N: 56054009AH) and will serve as a cheap proxy for me to design the rest of the dash. The one I'd like to get, assuming I can get the electrical to work, is a Mopar P/N: 56054012AH. That one a chrome ring around each gauge and is specifically for the 5.7L Hemi. But, just because it's for the 5.7L Hemi, does not guarantee it will wire up to the Charger/300C wiring harness. The plugs on the back are completely different, so I am now in the market for a set of pinouts for the 06/07 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK) so I can re-pin the connectors or make adapters.

Unfortunately, I can't really do any more design work on the rest of the dash until I make sure the cluster I found will actually work. If I can't make it work, I'll have to start over with my backup plan... An incomplete set of Stewart Warner gauges I've had stored in a cabinet. The tach was missing when I picked the set up from a swap meet years ago.

Let's talk vents for a second... I've included a few pictures of the vents I'm going to use in this truck. The vents on the left side of the driver and the right side of the passenger came from a Dodge Caliber. I literally cut the dash apart in the junkyard so I could have the entire mount along with the contoured portion of the surrounding plastic. The vents in the center of the dash are from a Jeep Patriot and match the ones on the sides of the dash. I love the way these things look as well as the way they work. I picked up all four vents along with the Patriot radio bezel (two trips the the junkyard because I didn't have the hackzall with me the first day) for a combined total of $40. Here's the kicker... If you go on eBay, each of these four vents goes for $95 from Mopar! And, as it turns out, these vents are used in several different vehicles in the Dodge/Jeep lineup.

Attn: Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep factory wiring gurus

I've come to the conclusion that the '06 Charger wiring was not engineered at the same time as the '06 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Some of the wiring is obviously the same, but there are things that make me want to take a step back.

Here are some of the highlights...

1. The Charger cluster is looking for input from both fuel pumps. I am still using the Charger (saddle bag type) fuel tank, so I will still have two pumps. Does the cluster do more than simply average the two levels and present the output on the gauge? If so, then, I know I can just pick of the two wires and use it to feed the Grand Cherokee (GC) fuel gauge. My worry is that the cluster may actually have some "logic" to turn one pump on or off based on how much fuel is in that side of the tank.

2. The cluster in both these donor vehicles seems to be hub for all the power windows and power locks on the vehicle. So, it's as if the cluster takes the input from the door switches and actually drives the circuitry that actuates door locks and windows. However, there are differences in how they work. The Charger splits out the the "passenger door lock switch return" from the "driver door lock switch return". I am pretty confident I can safely pick one of these to use and it will work. Similarly, the Charger has separate pinouts for the "Door lock driver left doors" and "Door lock driver right doors" while the GC simply has a pinout labeled "door lock relay control." This is actually another difference between the two clusters... While the Charger lists "... driver" pinouts for the door lock and unlock functions, the GC lists "... relay control" pinouts. Presumably (I need to look closer at the connecting wiring schematics to confirm), the GC uses more relays to control these functions than the Charger does.

3. The Charger cluster takes input from the ignition to see if the key is inserted. But the GC cluster doesn't care. The GC sends the "key in sense" info to the steering control module, of all things. This may not be a big deal... don't know yet.

4. Here's a fun one... The GC cluster has no pinout for the "traction control switch sense" What I'm interpreting here is that the Charger cluster tells the canbus system if I want to shut off the traction control system. Um... I always want the traction control system shut off. I need this input to work.

There are other differences too, but nothing insurmountable.

Here's my real question... Can the canbus system handle two gauge clusters plugged in at the same time? Didn't see that coming. Did you? I can make all kinds of changes to the wiring... Or, I could remove the dials and extra plastics from the Charger cluster and tuck it in the dash to act as a module to handle the power door locks, power windows, heated seats, interior lighting, etc. Then, I would simply hook the power, illumination, door ajar sense wires, ground and canbus wires to the GC cluster and put it in place. But would it work???

I know other people have used different instrument Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep clusters for their builds... Anyone care to weigh in with helpful suggestions? Thank you everyone!